I was invited to be the keynote speaker at a Utah Valley Writers retreat and spent four wonderful days at this log "cabin" in the mountains of Utah. If you're not interested in all my health stuff, this is the part where you can skip down to the pictures. ;)

There were two major health related things from this trip. First, I was hoping to be over the cold my kids had given me before I left, but as it was, it turned into a sinus infection while I was out of town. A cold wouldn't normally be a big deal, I've put up with bugs since my oldest first went to kindergarten.

Besides the usual pain and yucky cold stuff, I kept having asthma attacks. You see those stairs in the picture? They're really not too bad, just one flight. But walking up them just once sent me into a full asthma attack. I've never EVER had so much trouble breathing like that. I felt like an old lady, except most old ladies would have outrun me. I was sooooo glad I'd brought my inhaler with me!

I couldn't figure out why I was having so much trouble...sure, a few flights of stairs leaves me a bit breathless lately, but just one??? I knew I was out of shape, but this was ridiculous. I'd mostly chalked it up to being sick. When I got back home, I finally remembered that we'd been at around 6500 ft. No wonder I was having trouble breathing, that's a good 2000 ft higher than here in Provo.

It was a scary wake up call for me.  While I was at the retreat, I couldn't even get up and walk from one room to the other without my heart racing. I was constantly exhausted, and my brain was super foggy. It made writing a speaking a lot more interesting.

Now that I'm home, and on antibiotics for this dumb infection, I'm focusing a lot more on aerobic activity. I never want to hurt and feel so helpless like that again. After taking Sunday off, I walked some stairs today. I was happy to see that it took three flights (up and down) x2 to get me winded, and even then it wasn't as bad as in the mountains. So now I'm back to walking stairs every day (which is a bit painful with my knees still healing), but I am determined!

The second health thing was mental health. I haven't had a real vacation in about 15 years. No, that's not an exaggeration. We get to go visit family sometimes, but I'm talking about just going somewhere to relax, especially away from the kids (I love them, but every mom needs a break sometimes). Mentally, this trip did so much for me. It was absolutely AMAZING! Not only did I have a quiet place to relax and write, I got to socialize with a group of insanely talented writers and fellow geeks. I'll admit that I did make things a bit harder than they needed to be because I stayed up till around 3 am most nights, but I just didn't want to miss a thing! I didn't want it to end.

I came home feeling so refreshed and much happier! Even though I'm still sick, I'm not as grumpy, and life feels so much more hopeful. :)

If you're a writer, check out what events are available in your area. Retreats like this are usually way less expensive than you'd expect. I couldn't believe how inexpensive this one was. Whenever they have another, I'll be one of the first ones to sign up!

Learn more about Utah Valley Writers and their parent organization The United Authors Association. I love these guys!

My goals



(Parental Guide Below)

 I really liked that the movie is more family friendly than some other superhero films (see the parental guide below).

I was kind of fun how they tried to tie this into the Avengers universe (some fun references and a funny guest appearance), but....

What I Didn't Love

I'm wondering if the same special effect intern that messed up the opening scene of Avengers 2 worked on parts of this film... Overall, the special effects and cinematography were pretty good, but there were some really bad spots (believe me, you'll know them when you see them). 

They got the wrong actress to play Henry Pym's daughter. Yuck. I've liked her in other roles, but this one was not for her, especially considering her character's future in Marvel movies. 

I hated how they added in the swearing just to get a PG-13 rating (that rating is considered desirable because it's statistically higher profit). It's awkward, and brings parts of the movie down. 

Parental Guide

Violence: Very light violence, some martial arts (with a few bloody lips and some scrapes), action style non-graphic violence—less than other Avengers movies. There are a few parts where the shrinking technology kills, but the effects look more like the subject was transformed into a small pile cartoonish pink jellyfish-like goo.  

Language: Very little, but they use the "s" word at least 4-6 times in odd places. It's very annoying. 

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I've had a lot of requests for Perler bead cake toppers lately, especially for weddings or birthdays. Here are a few of of my favorites. :)

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